Superintendent+Interview+Standard+2.3

Interview with Dr. Stepp, Superintendent of Medina City Schools

** From: ** Michael Adair [mailto:madair3@kent.edu] **Sent:** Monday, December 06, 2010 7:55 PM **To:** RANDY STEPP **Subject:** Interview Questions

Dr. Stepp,

Hope Medina faired the snow storm better than my neighborhood! Here are the ten questions I would like you to answer. Once again I appreciate your participation in this assignment. I'm sure I'll learn plenty from your comments.

1. What is your educational/occupational background? How did you come to be superintendent at Medina?

2. Superintendents are often viewed as merely the prime administrator of a school district. However, I'm sure a superintendent's duties extend much further than that. What are your primary work obligations as superintendent?

3. What would you say is the most rewarding facet of the work you do for the district?

4. Conversely, I'm sure the superintendent position is quite stressful as well. What would you say is the greatest frustration you feel from your work?

5. As superintendent you've probably interviewed dozens of teachers. What are the key teacher qualities that you look for in a strong candidate?

6. What is the hiring outlook for the Medina school district?

7. What are some figures of the organizational arrangement of the school district, i.e. number of teachers, students, principals etc.?

8. I remember discussions from a September board meeting about Medina expanding its curriculum to have online courses. Could you elaborate on the progress and development of this exciting project?

9. How would you describe the Medina City community, and the school district as well?

10. And lastly, what advice would you give to a student teacher entering his first full semester of teaching?

Thank you again for taking the time out of your busy schedule to answer these questions. I look forward for my opportunity next semester.

Sincerely,

Michael Adair


 * from |||| RANDY STEPP   ||
 * to |||| [[image:https://mail.google.com/mail/images/cleardot.gif]] Michael Adair  ||
 * date |||| [[image:https://mail.google.com/mail/images/cleardot.gif]] Tue, Dec 7, 2010 at 2:21 PM ||
 * subject |||| [[image:https://mail.google.com/mail/images/cleardot.gif]] RE: Interview Questions ||

Michael, My responses are next to the text of your questions. Good luck and have a happy holiday season! Randy

Dr. Stepp, Hope Medina faired the snow storm better than my neighborhood! Here are the ten questions I would like you to answer. Once again I appreciate your participation in this assignment. I'm sure I'll learn plenty from your comments. 1. What is your educational/occupational background? How did you come to be superintendent at Medina? I have a Doctorate from Ashland Universtity. Was a teacher, asst. middle school principal, elementary principal, and principal of two high schools. Became supt. After serving as principal at Medina High School. 2. Superintendents are often viewed as merely the prime administrator of a school district. However, I'm sure a superintendent's duties extend much further than that. What are your primary work obligations as superintendent? My primary responsibilities are: communications (internal and external), community relations, board relations and development, oversight of academic programs, oversight of operations, strategic planning for continuous improvement in all a ership development and evaluation, union negotiations, and financial planning. 3. What would you say is the most rewarding facet of the work you do for the district? Anytime I have an opportunity to improve the District for the benefit of the students of Medina. 4. Conversely, I'm sure the superintendent position is quite stressful as well. What would you say is the greatest frustration you feel from your work? Levy campaigning. 5. As superintendent you've probably interviewed dozens of teachers. What are the key teacher qualities that you look for in a strong candidate? We have many employees laid-off, therefore new hiring will be minimal. 7. What are some figures of the organizational arrangement of the school district, i.e. number of teachers, students, principals etc.? 450 teaching staff, 250 support staff, 7750 students, 33 administrators 8. I remember discussions from a September board meeting a curriculum to have online courses. Could you elaborate on the progress and development of this exciting project? We have decided on BlackBoard as our Learning Management System and are now starting the process of selecting staff and training on how to use. Our goal is to develop an online model and hybrid model. 9. How would you describe the Medina City community, and the school district as well? Community - Very demanding, supportive, middle class with traditional values. School district – same as community 10. And lastly, what advice would you give to a student teacher entering his first full semester of teaching? Remember to be patient, communicate frequently with par rea, seek feedback regularly about how you can improve (from students, colleagues and admin), work at developing your instructional strategies (after all, it doesn’t matter how you know about content if the students aren’t learning), and NEVER forget why you became a teacher (this sometimes happens as we get older).


 * * I chose my interview with Dr. Stepp for this section to demonstrate that not only do I communicate with administrators, but that I desire to know as much as I can about both the teaching profession and the background and demographics of my school district. **